A new edition of ICSID’s caseload statistics takes a deep dive into case-related trends in the 2024 calendar year, while also showcasing data on all ICSID cases going back to 1972.
ICSID releases its comprehensive statistics report twice a year, providing key insights into the caseload of the world’s leading forum for resolving international investment disputes.
New Cases
ICSID registered 55 new arbitrations in 2024, including the 1000th case under the ICSID Convention and the Additional Facility Rules.
Arbitrations under the ICSID Convention accounted for the largest share of new cases in CY24 (53 cases), followed by arbitrations applying the ICSID Additional Facility Rules (two cases).
As of December 31, 2024, ICSID had registered a total of 1022 arbitration and conciliation cases under either the ICSID Convention or Additional Facility Rules.
An additional 17 arbitrations were administered under other non-ICSID procedural rules. Most (14 cases) applied the arbitration rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
Basis of Consent
In the majority of new cases in 2024 (52%), ICSID jurisdiction was asserted on the basis of a bilateral investment treaty (BIT). When accounting for all ICSID cases, 58% have relied on BITs for jurisdiction. Multilateral treaties have accounted for a growing share of cases over time.
A further 14% of new cases were brought in 2024 on the basis of contracts between a host State and investor and 5% under domestic investment laws—both of which are consistent with figures from previous years.
Regional Distribution
The considerable regional diversity among new arbitrations was also in accord with historical trends. In 2024, States in Eastern Europe and Central Asia accounted for 24% of new cases, followed by the Central America and the Caribbean region, the South American region and Sub-Saharan Africa—each of which accounted for 16% of arbitrations. Western European States were involved in 11% of cases and North America in 9%. The Middle East and North Africa, and South & East Asia & the Pacific were involved in 4% of cases respectively.
Economic Sectors
Investments in the oil, gas, and mining industry were involved in 38% of new cases. This was followed by electric power and other energy sources (24%).
Also prominent in 2024 were cases involving other industry sectors (13%), such as insurance or pharmaceutical activities, and transportation (11%).
Case Outcomes
Of the arbitrations that concluded in 2024, 78% were decided by a tribunal and 22% were settled or otherwise discontinued. This is an increase in disputes decided by a tribunal as compared to case outcomes in previous years.
Among disputes decided by tribunals in 2024, 53% of awards upheld the investors’ claims in part or in full, 30% of awards rejected all of the investors’ claims on the merits, and 17% of awards declined jurisdiction. Such balanced results are also typical of ICSID’s long-terms trends.
Diversity and Gender Balance Among ICSID Appointments
Individuals of 45 nationalities were represented among the 228 appointments in 2024.
In total, 10% of appointments involved individuals appointed for the first time to an ICSID case. Forty-eight percent of first-time appointees in 2024 involved nationals of low- or middle-income economies and 35% were women.
Overall, women accounted for 25% of all appointments made to ICSID cases in 2024. This compares to 16% when accounting for the appointment of women in all ICSID cases.
Among the appointments made by ICSID in 2024—as opposed to appointments by the parties or co-arbitrators—57% were men and 43% were women.
For further information, see the ICSID Caseload – Statistics (Issue 2025 – 1)